New Delhi: A student of Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), who is also the state vice-president of All India Students’ Association (AISA), has been fined Rs 5,000 for participating in an “online protest” by students against the university’s various policies during the online convocation in December 2020. The university accused the student of “slur/distasteful remarks” and termed them “disrespectful” towards chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who were also participating in the event.It has been reported by the Indian Express that the university, in its order issued on June 30, made it incumbent upon Neha, a final-semester student of M.A. in Performance Studies, to pay the fine amount if she desired to appear in her final exams.The student, who is an office-bearer of AISA, has contested the charges saying she has been singled out and that the comments being attributed to her were posted on a YouTube live streaming link.The university’s allegation is that during the online session, she referred to the students’ protest against the “constitutional changes in reservation policy and the exorbitant high fees” and charged that the chief minister “doesn’t care about students”. The students had also accused the university of “alleged discrimination against SC/ST students”.The order by the proctor of the university read: “An incident of use of slur/distasteful/other remarks in the YouTube thread during the 9th Annual Convocation of AUD on December 23, 2020 by Ms Neha… had come to the notice of the Proctorial Board. The Proctorial Board, after having ground through the case, had constituted a sub-committee to inquire into the incident and gave its report.”Also read: The Future of Democratic Protests in an Illiberal DemocracyThe order further said that during a “personal interaction” between the sub-committee and Neha on April 6, the student “admitted” to having made “said comments” and “did not feel guilty” about them. Thereafter, it added, “the sub-committee resolved that the comments made on the public platform about the university community and chief guest and the guest of honour were baseless and disrespectful and clearly amounts to a deliberate attempt to defame and disrespect the university community.”Terming Neha’s conduct a “clear violation of AUD’s code of discipline for student,” it stated that a fine has been imposed on her.In her response to the charges, Neha claimed that she was being singled out since there were over a dozen other students who participated in the online protest. “No one else received the show-cause notice. Despite asking multiple times, they haven’t told who complained to them, nor have I been told the exact clauses under which I have been penalised,” she was quoted as saying.Meanwhile, the university’s AISA unit has called for immediate revoking of the punishment. It also called upon the Delhi government to “stop this institutional alienation of marginalised students in Ambedkar University immediately and take action against the university administration for harassing and punishing students for democratically voicing their concerns.”The report also cited the AUD PRO defending the action against Neha by stating that “the convocation is the most auspicious programme in the academic cycle of any student. The conduct of Ms Neha during the programme was unbecoming of a student and was against the values for which B.R. Ambedkar University stands.”